Cabinet Office

Electric Vehicles: China

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government whetherthey plan to ban Chinese-made electric cars from sensitive national infrastructure sites.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The UK takes the security and resilience of critical infrastructure seriously. Each Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) sector has a Lead Government Department responsible for working with owners and operators to identify and mitigate risks to their sites. They are also supported by the National Cyber Security Centre and the National Protective Security Authority who provide expert advice and guidance to both public and private organisations to identify risks and vulnerabilities to the UK’s national infrastructure. As set out in the Integrated Review Refresh, China under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses an epoch-defining challenge and an economic threat to a range of government policy areas, including CNI. The Government actively monitors threats to UK critical national infrastructure, and will not hesitate to take further action if necessary to protect sensitive assets where appropriate to protect national security.

Ministry of Justice

Employment Tribunals Service

Lord Browne of Ladyton: To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to resume the publication of timeliness data in respect of employment tribunals.

Lord Bellamy: HM Courts and Tribunals Service anticipate that publication of employment tribunal timeliness data will be at the end of the calendar year.

Home Office

Asylum: Rwanda

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government what conditions exist in Rwanda that have led them to conclude that appropriate and professional age assessments will be capable of being carried out on people sent there for immigration purposes where special requirements apply in respect of an uncertainty over an individual’s age.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: Our age assessment policies for immigration purposes seek to protect genuine children and identify those who are adults.The UK-Rwanda Treaty makes clear at Article 3 that the agreement reached between the governments of Rwanda and the UK does not cover unaccompanied children and that the UK Government shall not seek to relocate unaccompanied children under the age of 18. It is therefore only those individuals who are confirmed to be, or have been assessed to be, adults who will be removed to Rwanda. We have already strengthened the age assessment process through measures introduced in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.

Asylum: Georgia

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the government of Georgia introducing a bill that would curtail LGBT+ rights on the UK government’s declaration that Georgia is a safe country for immigration purposes.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: In line with 80AA of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, we work closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to regularly monitor and review the situation in countries where migrants originate from, including how any new legislation is applied in practice.

Edward Heath

Lord Lexden: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answerby Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 26 March (HL3210), when they anticipate that officials will complete their work and that a decision will be taken by ministers.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: As per my response on 26th March, I will return to the House in due course after receiving advice from officials on the considerations of whether the type of review of Operation Conifer the noble Lord and colleagues call for is necessary.

Police: Pay

Lord Wasserman: To ask His Majesty's Government how many times the pay of (1) Police and Crime Commissioners, and (2) Chief Officers of Police in England and Wales, has been increased since November 2012; and when these increases took place.

Lord Wasserman: To ask His Majesty's Government by what percentage the pay of (1) Police and Crime Commissioners, and (2) Chief Officers of Police in England and Wales, has been increased between November 2012 and 15 March 2024.

Lord Wasserman: To ask His Majesty's Government why the pay of Police and Crime Commissioners, which was initially roughly equivalent to that of Assistant Chief Constables,is now roughly equivalent to that of Chief Inspector.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The independent Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) makes recommendations to the Government on the pay of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). PCCs are currently placed into five salary groups aligned to the 12 force weightings used to govern chief constables’ pay. The current PCC pay bands range from £68,200 to £101,900. PCC pay has increased twice since 2012, with uplifts taking effect from 1 May 2018 and 1 May 2022. SSRB reviews in the 2014/15 and 2015/16 pay rounds recommended that the rates of pay should remain unchanged in those years. PCC pay has increased by 2% to 5% since November 2012. Chief police officer pay has increased by 22% to 27%. PCC pay remains above that for chief inspectors, which ranges from £64,449 to £67,017. In its last review, the SRRB recommended adjustments to PCC remuneration, including reducing the current five groups to three. The recommendations were not accepted by the Government at that time, who concluded the issue should be considered when the future structure of chief police officer pay is settled. The next review of PCC pay is scheduled to take place in the 2025/26 pay round.

Asylum: Rwanda

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they have considered, and from which organisations, which has led them to the conclusion that Rwanda is a safe country.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The list of sources used are listed in the extensive country information notes, and the annexes that accompany them. This – alongside the additional assurances agreed with the Government of Rwanda under the terms of the UK-Rwanda Treaty: Provision of an Asylum Partnership – allow us to conclude that Rwanda is safe.Detail of these is available via the ‘Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill: policy statement and evidence pack’ page on the GOV.UK website.

Asylum: Religion

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government what meetings have taken place between the Home Office and faith communitiesregarding those claiming asylum in the UK due to genuine faith-based persecution; and what steps are being taken to ensure that they receive appropriate and compassionate support.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: On 22 February, the Home Secretary held an initial meeting with ten Christian faith leaders to discuss the role of religious conversions in asylum applications. Following the meeting, the Home Secretary commissioned the establishment of a working group.The aim of this group is for Home Office representations and Christian faith leaders to discuss ways in which each party can better scrutinise asylum claims based on religious persecution and ensure those in genuine need of protection by the UK asylum system are supported.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Lord Naseby: To ask His Majesty's Government what action they propose to take to reduce the approximately 71 per cent of candidates who drop out of the application process for the Armed Forces, and whether the primary cause of such drop outs is the slow process of recruitment.

The Earl of Minto: Recruitment and retention are absolute priorities and we have introduced a range of measures to respond to the current recruitment challenge, which is affecting many other militaries across the world. While it does take time to recruit the right people to our Armed Forces, we have sped up Army recruitment by 9% in the last year, and the majority of regular soldiers join in less than 140 days. There are a multitude of factors which impact on a candidate’s engagement with Armed Forces recruiting systems, and we are actively seeking to address these within our measures.

NATO: Gender

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byThe Earl of Minto on 18 March (HL2986),who represents the UK on the NATO Committee on Gender Perspectives and how they were chosen.

The Earl of Minto: The Human Security policy team in the Ministry of Defence are the policy owners and experts on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) in Defence. They provide one civilian or active duty representative for the UK at the NATO Committee on Gender Perspectives (NCGP). This representative regularly attends NCGP meetings and has supported the revision of NATO’s updated WPS Policy (due to be published in 2024), and the revision of roles and relationships between the NCGP and the NATO Military Committee. UK representation in the NCGP will continue to be provided by the Ministry of Defence.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Housing: Prices and Standards

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government, following recent findings by the Resolution Foundation regarding the affordability and quality of housing, what steps they are taking to (1) address, and (2) mitigate, those challenges.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: Full details of the Government’s long-term plan for housing are available on gov.uk. This includes measures to increase the overall supply and availability of safe, warm and affordable homes. Boosting housing supply is key to affordability: we are on track to deliver our commitment to build one million homes this Parliament, are investing significant funding in affordable housing programmes through the £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme and £6 billion Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme, and we have helped over 876,000 households purchase a home since spring 2010 through Government backed schemes.Housing quality is also central to this plan. We have seen a strong decrease in the number of non-decent homes since 2010. This government has introduced the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, including Awaab’s Law, and is applying the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector for the first time through the Renters (Reform) Bill, to ensure that all tenants benefit from homes that are safe and decent

Young People: Health

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report byGallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions NetworkWorld Happiness Report, published on 20 March; in particular, the finding that the happiness of young people under the age of 30 in the UK has declined.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The Government is committed to improving the well-being of individuals in every area of the UK as set out in our (attached) update on the Well-being mission in January 2024. We continue to engage with new data and evidence in the delivery of all Levelling Up Missions, including on how we can improve well-being.This includes considering the work of Professor Lord Richard Layard, one of the authors of the World Happiness Report, and other experts in our ongoing work on this mission.Update on well-being mission (pdf, 310.0KB)

Local Government: South West

Lord Patten: To ask His Majesty's Government which specific counties are included within the term "the west country of England" when they refer to this region.

Baroness Swinburne: The West Country is not an official region, but could be loosely and approximately defined to match the South West region. The West of England, covers a much smaller area, focussed around the Greater Bristol and Bath city region. The West of England Combined Authority is made up of the following local authority areas: South Gloucestershire, Bristol and Bath & North East Somerset.

Department of Health and Social Care

Health Services

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government when the major conditions strategy will be published.

Lord Markham: Our intention is to publish the Major Conditions Strategy in the summer of this year.

Gender Plus

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have reviewed the decision of the Care Quality Commission to approve the registration of Gender Plus Healthcare in east London, which runs the private Gender Plus hormone clinic set up by former Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service specialist Dr Aidan Kelly, and which can refer patients aged 16 to 18 for cross-sex hormone treatment.

Lord Markham: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England, and one of its statutory responsibilities is to assess and register providers of regulated activity, as set out in schedule one of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. Gender Plus Healthcare is a United Kingdom based private gender clinic offering a range of treatment options, including hormone treatment, for those aged 16 years old and over.In January 2024 the CQC approved Gender Plus Healthcare’s registration to carry out the regulated activity of treatment of disease, disorder, or injury, with the provider having met the CQC’s requirements for registration. The registration by the CQC was on the condition that the provider must not carry out the regulated activity of treatment of disease, disorder, or injury, on those under the age of 16 years old, at any location.